Revoke proposal for Justice Yashwant Varma’s transfer, bar associations urge CJI

Six High Court bar associations on Thursday met Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and urged him to revoke the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation for the transfer of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court, Bar and Bench reported.

The representatives of the bar associations also demanded that a criminal investigation be initiated against Varma. The heads of the bar associations of Allahabad, Lucknow, Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur), Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala met Khanna on Thursday.

Unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered at Varma’s official residence when emergency services responded to a fire there on March 14. The judge said he was in Bhopal at the time and claimed that the cash did not belong to him or his family.

Allahabad High Court Bar Association President Anil Tiwari said the chief justice assured them that their demands would be considered. “However, CJI did not promise anything,” Tiwari added, according to Bar and Bench.

On March 22, the Supreme Court released a report including a video and three photographs showing bundles of notes that were allegedly recovered from the judge’s home. The Supreme Court Collegium on March 24 recommended that Varma be repatriated to the Allahabad High Court, which is his parent High Court.

The redacted report showed that Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya had written to Varma on March 21, asking...

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